So thank god for The Second Glass.  Tyler Balliet and Morgan First from The Second Glass have created a resource educating the Gen Y wine consumer.  They offer everything from a wine publication to incredible educational opportunities and events such as Wine of the Weekend and Wine Riot.

Now that they have established a fantastic brand, listen to what is in store for the next phase of The Second Glass which will probably dominate our discussion on Thursday night at Hubspot!

Get your ticket!

Big thanks to Microsoft for being this week’s sponsor!

To learn more about all the great stuff Microsoft is doing for the Boston community be sure to follow Microsoft NERD and Gus Weber on Twitter.

We are at Hubspot this week.

6:45pm to 11:00pm

Cambridge Innovation Center
One Broadway, 5th Floor
Cambridge, MA 02142

If you have any questions get in touch with us otherwise we will see you on Thursday!

Of course the night was all about Kabir Hemrajani and his company RiotVine.  He is going to be pitching this Tuesday at Venrock for Dart’s first Capitalize event.  If you don’t get a ticket remember we are live streaming the event so be sure to participate online!

Helping us out last night in the Pokin’ Holes discussion we had a 3 great panelists two of which were first timers.

Alex King: Director of Marketing with @webnoter

Vadim Revzin: Bentley grad and a man looking to micro fund start-ups

Nick Ward: Gainfully employed geek by day, gamer by night

Check out what these guys had to say about RiotVine…

Listen to Kabir pitch and the community’s questions…

Listen to the audiences thoughts on comments for Kabir…

Our company on Thursday’s Pokin’ Holes, RiotVine, will be the first start-up to pitch on Capitalize next Tuesday at Venrock.  Kabir Hemrajani, founder of RiotVine stopped by last night to talk about his company and what he’s working on.

Get your ticket…

Kabir launched RiotVine about a month and a half ago and is now pushing to get the Boston community to try it out.  We’ve created a RiotVine event for this Pokin’ Holes so let us know what you think.

Listen to what Kabir had to say on the Pre-Show.

This Episode of Pokin’ Holes is brought to you by Grasshopper:

Grasshopper – Entrepreneurs can change the world! (video)



We are going to be at Game On! this week.  If you have never been there, it’s at the foot of Fenway Park.

82 Lansdowne St
Boston, MA 02215

I hope to see you all on Thursday!

We’ve all been to the lectures on raising capital for your start-up. We’ve all heard what VC’s and Angels look for in a start-up. We’ve all heard the do’s and dont’s of how you should pitch. But rather than listening to lectures about all this stuff you are now going to get a shot and experience the process.

Capitalize is an opportunity for Dart community start-ups to pitch VC’s and Angels as well as an opportunity for the Dart community to be in the boardroom and see how everything goes down.

On the third Tuesday of every month (for the next three months at least) we will be going to a different VC firm and inviting one of the companies from the Dart community, who thinks they’re ready to raise capital, the opportunity to pitch.

Here is Jake explaining the show at Pokin’ Holes…

The schedule is:

Venrock on November 10
Flybridge Capital Partners on December 15
Bain Capital Ventures on January 19

The experience will be as realistic as possible. We are going to get as many of you into the VC’s boardroom as they can accommodate. For those who don’t get a ticket to the event we will be live streaming the experience so you can participate virtually. After the pitch everyone in the room and those watching the stream can ask questions and get feedback from the VC’s.

The tickets for Capitalize are free and will be given away at Pokin’ Holes shows. The only way to get a ticket is to come out to a Pokin’ Holes event or watch the live stream and show your support for the community!

Our goal of Capitalize is to create more relationships between the Dart community and the capital community so come out, participate and we can introduce you to more great people that can help make your start-up happen!

As always the Dart community came out in force last night and I want to thank everyone who came out to support.  Jason Shah pitched his company, INeedAPencil and I thought our panel and the community offered some good ideas.

Check out the show below…

Our panel included:

Morgan First: travel obsessed, adventure loving entrepreneur @thesecondglass

Jarrett Sloan: Boston based bike riding , coffee drinking, beer enjoying, PC hating , Alfresco using, tech loving web enthusiast.

Ben Margolis: Web developer, entrepreneur, urbanist, saxophonist, and meliorist

Listen to Jason’s pitch of INeedAPencil…

1 Lansdowne St
Boston, MA 02215

Meghan is going to be hooking us up with some appetizers early on in the night so make sure to get to Pokin’ Holes early if you’re hungry.  The company in the hot seat, INeedAPencil, is a great one and we are looking forward to seeing what thoughts the panel has for Jason.

See everyone at The Lansdowne!

I know this is coming a bit late but nevertheless we are hitting you with the Pokin’ Holes Pre-Show and Jason Shah, founder of INeedAPencil (on twitter).

Grab your ticket for this week’s show… http://pokinholes.eventbrite.com

INeedAPencil provides online SAT preparation targeting students who wouldn’t typically be able to participate in the more expensive SAT tutoring classes.  Jason and his team have designed INeedAPencil to provide students with interesting learning content, proven testing methods and helpful student tools.

We are going to be at The Lansdowne this week for the show.  I’ve been talking to Meghan there and because she loves the DartCommunity so much she is going to be giving us free apps before the show so make sure you get there early, grab a beer (or wine or cocktail) and meet some great people.

9 Lansdowne St
Boston, MA 02215

If you have any questions be sure to get in touch otherwise I look forward to seeing everyone on Thursday!

I thought the panel offered Nicolas and Guillaume, from La 3ieme Main, some really insightful ideas that they can take away and execute when they get back home.

Check out last night’s show below to see what the Dart community had to say about the product Draw Your Sound.

The panel included:

Shannon Jamieson – I’m an entertainment and corporate attorney. Focus on the music biz. Rock on.

Kate Dilworth – A BC Double Eagle and while not working in venture capital she’s playing the role of party expert

Sandy Kalik – I like to do three things at once: tweet, chew gum and watch tv. Really, I do marketing, yoga and I write. And I love it!

Pokin’ Holes – La 3ieme Main from Cort Johnson on Vimeo.

545 Boylston St
Boston, MA 02116

This Thursday however is going to be a bit different.  For those of us who stick around after Pokin’ Holes with our French guests from La 3ieme Main, we’re also going to be hearing about how to improve our dating lives thanks to the dynamic dating duo experts.

Thomas Edwards, The Professional Wingman and Laurie Davis, the eFlirt Expert are going to be filming a live episode of WingmanTV.  So let’s show our support and of course after just coming off of Pokin’ Holes, judge them on if we think they are the real deal or just all talk.

We hope to see you all tonight!

While Dart typically concentrates on Boston based start-ups we have a couple of 23 year old guest from France coming to Boston to gain insight from Boston’s entrepreneurial community.

Nicolas and Guillaume, founders of La 3ieme Main (I’m working on my French so I can pronounce this) arrived in Boston at 5pm last night and then booked it over to DartHQ to shoot the Pre-Show at 6:45pm.  I have to thank them as well as Yann, from the French consulate for pushing through jet lag to participate on the Pre-Show.

If you want to come out to Pokin’ Holes on Thursday pick up your ticket… http://pokinholes.eventbrite.com

This Thursday we will be at Vlora.  We have a special event this week as Thomas Edwards,The Professional Wingman, will be on hand to shoot his live show, WingmanTV.  So come out, support the local Boston entrepreneurial community and enjoy quality cocktails and conversation.

545 Boylston St
Boston, MA 02116

See everyone on Thursday!